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3 SheetsSheet l.

A. HEUPEL, J. REINHARDT & S. G. VOTTELER.

VALVE GEAR 0E STEAM ENGINES.

No. 86,070. Patented Jan. 19, 1869.-

3 SheetsSheet 2.

A. HEUPEL, J. REINHARDT 8v S. G. VOTTELER."

VALVE GEAR OF STEAM ENGINES;

"No. 86,070. Patnted Jam 1.9, 1869.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. HEUPEL, J. REINHARDT & S. G. VOTTELER. VALVE GEAR 0E STEAM ENGINES.

No. 86,070. Patented Jan. 19, 1869.

m: Ncnms vzrzns co.. PHOTD-LITMO., WASHINGTON. w. c. I

ersre ANTON HEUPEL, JOHN REINHARDT, AND STEPHEN G. 'VOTTELER,

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 86,070, dated J anua ry 19, 1869; antedated J nun r1118, 1869.

IMPROVED/IBM IN VALVE-GEAR OI STEAM-ENGINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, A'n'ron HEUPEL, J OHN Esra HARDT, and STEPHEN G. Vo'r'rnLER, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Steam- Engines; and we do hereby declare the foilowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made apart of this specification.

The subject of our invention is a steam-engine for locomotive or other purposes, in which the valves are operated by means of a pivoted wheel or flange on the driving-shaft, and the length of stroke varied by setting said flange at a greater or less angle of obliquity.

Our improvements relate, further, to the manner of adjusting said flange, and looking it in its difi'el'ent positions, and the construction and arrangement of the parts immediately acted upon by said flange, and their connection to the valve-rods.

The drawings represent our invention as applied to a locomotive-engine- Figure 1 being a plan view of the device in position in the bed-name, of whiclra portion only is shown;

Figure 2, a sectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by the line Zr-1 fig. 1;

. Figure 3, a similar view, with the section at y-y;

Figure 4, an elevation of the valve-operatin g flange, the adjusting-clutch, and the sleeve or strap for supporting the pivoted levers in position on the shaft, their connections being omitted;

Figure 5, a transverse section on the line z-z, fig. 4,

Figure'ii, an end elevation of the parts represented in fig. 4, looking in the'direction of the arrow 2;

Figure 7, a section through the pivotal. axis of the valve-operating flange, and its attaching-ring, in position on the shaft;

Figure 8, a transverse section of the bearing-point ,of one of the vibrating levers, which receive their motion direct from the operating-flange;

Figure 9, a rear elevation of the complete device, certain portions being broken away, to more fully expose the operating-parts; and

Figure 10, a sectional view of a modification of the manner of supporting the vibrating levers.

A may represent the bed-frame, B, the cylinders, O, the valvechcsts, D, the valves, and F, the drivingshaft of a'locornotive-engine of ordinary construction.

is a ring or sieeve,-of spheroidal periphery, rigidly secured to the shaft F in any suitable manner.

H is the valve-operating flange, which is mounted on said ring G, and secured to it by oblique pivots, g, on which it is free'to turn.

It is constructed with laterally-projecting arms, h, to the extremities of which are pivoted dovetailed slides, h, which slide in oblique grooves, t, in the flat sides, i, of the sliding sleeve 1, sotlnat the ion vsritndinal movement of the latter shall cause the valve-operating flange H to turn on its pivots, and assume a more or less oblique position relative to the shaft, to increase or lessen the length of the stroke given to the valve by the rotation of the driving-shaft, or to impart the necessary mot-ion to the valve independently, as in starting, the shaft F being formed, if necessary, with flat sides, f, fig. 3, to allow of the necessary length of groove across said sleeve 1.

The sleeve I is furtherprovided with a pair of hinged jaws, i", fig. 5, having wedge-shape projections, i, at their loose ends.

By said projections coming in contact with the walls of the similarly-ibrrned slot i, fi l and 9, in the sleeve 1, said jaws are pressed against the shaft, and thus hold said sleeve I and the valve-driving flange H, which is adjusted by its movement, rigidly at any desired point.

The sleeves I I are each free to move longitudinally on the shaft F, to perform the above functions, but are prevented from separate rotation by the spline f'..

They are formed with circumferential grooves, i i in which rest, respectively, their operating-forks, K K, which are pivoted, at it It, in a bracket, A", attached to the cross-bar-A of the bed-frame A.

The arms k of the forks K K project at about right angles from the fork-ends, and are connected, by the rods K" K, to the lower ends of the rock-levers K K, which are further connected, by rods K K, to the operating and locking-devices, which we will now describe; (See figs. 2 and 9.)

L is a handlever, similar in form to the ordinary starting-bar.

It is pivoted at I, and provided with aslot at Z, for the passage of a stationary sector-bar, L, the notches; l, in the upper edge of which are engaged by the bolt 1', to hold the lever at any desired point, said bolt being operated by the ordinary latch Z.

L" is a lever, having the same fulcrum as L, and connected to it by an eccentric, L', which is pivoted to the lever L, and works in a slot, 1 in the enlarged upper end of said bar L.

To these levers L L", respectively, are connected the pods K and K, their action, through them, being'as ollows:

By turning up the eccentric, L"", the sleeve 1, through its-connections K K", K K, is retracted a suificient distance to release the jaws i, when, by moving the lever L, the sleeve I, through the connections K K", K K, will be adjusted toward or away from the flange H, and said flange turned, as before described, and made to assume a more or less oblique position, the other sleeve, 1', being moved simultaneously with, but at a suflicient distance from I, so asnot to clamp the jaws t. Then, by turning the eccentric, L, hack, tnc sleeve'I is again brought up to I, and the flange locked in the position to which it was moved.

M is a strap, surrounding the shaft F, but prevented from turning with it, by attachment to a bar, A'", supported from the axle-boxes, so as to allow it to gravitate'with the axle, and is further'supported from 1ongitndinaldisplacement on the shaft by a collar, F.

Pivoted to brackets m and m, projecting fromthe sleeve or strap M, are curved arms, N N, whoseifrce ends r heads, at n, embrace the flange H, these heads beingconstructed, as represented in fig. 8, with sliding boxes,,n, capable of a rotary movement in the heads, and of being .set out to any desired extent by means of set-screws, n ,and having, in their faces,

1 flaring slots, n; for the reception of the flange, said slot containing soft metal Wedges, n, which, when in position, form the walls of the slot, and which, by the outward adjustment of the boxes 13 may be kept in r .close contact with the sides of the flange, and receive and the vertical gravitation of the shaft.

The bell-cranks O O are both pivoted, at 0, to the bracket A of the cross-bar A of the bed-frame, and their arms 0 and 0', respectively, are connected, by

the valve-rods P P, to the valves '1), and impart to them, by the rotation of the shaft, a steady reciprocating motion, with any desired length of stroke.-

The supporting-strap M of the arms N N, instead of being constructed as above described, 6. 0., with its brackets, and the pivots of the vibrating arms N N,

exterior to, the valve-driving flange, may be so constructed as to bring said pivots within the flange, as represented in'fig. 10.'

The engine or engines, whose valves are operated by a driving-flange, as herein described, may be started, reghlated, and reversed, by one an the same lever, without any change of the shut-01f valve.

pansion of the steam in the cylinder, and to exhaust I more perfectly than by any other movement within our knowledge.

The valves constructed for this movement can be used with the same advantage for any speed of the engine, by shifting the driving-flange more or-less.

In. some classes of engines, we propose to dispense with the separate locking-elutch, and to move and fix the valve-operating flange by means of a single sliding sleeve.

Having thus described our invention,

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letem Patent, is-

.1. The sleeve 1, employed in combination with the valve-operating flange. H, and rigid arms h h, to adjust said flange relatively to its driving-shaft, and to lock it in its diflerent positions.

2'. The gri ping-jaws 13'", in combination with the valve-adjusting sleeve I, and locking-sleeve or clutch I 12*, substantially as and for the'purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the vibrating arms N N'gmd bell-crank levers O O"with the'flange'H,-'for converting and conveying the motion of said flange to the valve-rods, substantially as specified.

4 The universal joints n o, n o, for connecting the vibrating arms N N arid levers O O, for'the purposedescribed.

5." The combination of the lever L, locking-bolt '17 i, notched sector-bar L, and connections K K K, with the sliding sleeve I, substantially as and for the purpose set forth 6. The lever L", looking-eccentric L, and connections K K K, in combination with the locking-sleeve or clutch 1,,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

ANTON HEUPEL. JOHN REINHARDT.

ST. G. ,VOT'IELER.

4 Witnesses:

Pm Gmmam, Annnnw J. Boswnnn. 

